Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Today seemed like a very productive day. We got a brand new, bigger water heater. The smaller one is original to this house (a.k.a. 20 years old) and not only was it on its last legs, it wasn't really big enough for the house. We looked into tankless water heaters, but since we don't have gas, we did some research and found out that there wasn't a huge benefit to running one on electric. Instead there is a timer installed on this one that will turn it off during the night and a switch so that we can turn it off if we go out of town, so we should save energy that way.

Look, a new water heater! (Insert ooohs and ahhhs here) I know, I promised a more exciting post with the title, but figure "and other Pandemonium" gives me some artistic license. Plus, the pandemonium happened when the plumber turned on his pump to drain the original water heater and the power went off. He couldn't get it to come back on so the hunt for an electrician started. Luckily, the electrician was able to get power up and running again, but I expect we'll need a new fuse box sometime in the not too distant future. Here's hoping we can hold off on that for at least a few months!

Finally, the pool deck got finished... almost. We ran out of paint with just this small patch left. *sigh* But the rest of the pool deck looks awesome, and you can't see it in these photos, but there is sand in this paint to give it better grip for the pool deck.

Bowden approves of the new color.Below are some gratuitous dog shots since I tortured you with water heater stories at the beginning of this post:

"Can someone please get my ball?"

"No really, I could use some help with my ball here people!"

First dip in the pool, for both of them.

Didn't take Bowden long to find out where the most comfortable spot to cool off was. When he gets hot, he runs straight to this stair for a dip.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Sorry for the delay in posting. We were moving into the new place all week and in all the shuffle, the cable to upload the camera got packed in a random unmarked box that took ages to dig up. We weren't expecting to have to move this quickly, but very luckily, the shortsale on our condo went through and we had no choice but to move into a place with no kitchen, no master bathroom, and no hot water. Luckily, the contractor was able to fix the hot water issue before we had to spend the night, so don't worry, we are all showered over here.

So, while we're still waiting on the kitchen cabinets to get installed (Friday at the earliest), here's some of the rooms that are partially set up.

The guest room was one of the first to get put together because we have to sleep there until the master bedroom set is delivered.

Not bad, right? We'll have to keep a waiting list for guests that want to visit.Uh oh, *almost* all together. Now where the heck is that drawer?After about 20 minutes of searching all the logical places, it finally turned up here. I guess it was silly of me to not look between the stacked chairs... The guest room is now ready, minus any art and decorative peices. Oh, and did I mention a TV? It'll be like a spa for our guests, an escape from technology and the pressure of the work world. Plus, without a kitchen, it's like camping out with running water. Anyone still want to visit?

The bird room is making progress, too. Mind you, the TV is just for show since none of the power outlets work in this room, but the birds are right at home. I forgot to take close ups, but there are six birds in there, 4 parakeets and 2 cockatiels. They don't call me "Crazy Bird Lady" for nothing. :)

Here's the progress on the living room. I'm loving the new sofas and can't wait to be able to put everything in it's proper spot, when there's a bit more room (a.k.a. kitchen cabinets and storage).

The dining room... we have two tables in here because one will move to the kitchen area once it's installed. I got this dining room set about 5 years ago and my taste is totally different now. In a few months, we'll try to sell this and replace it with something a bit more modern. The other table and leather chairs will be going to the kitchen when (if?) that's finished. There's a cover on it now so it doesn't get all scratched up since it's in the ideal location to become a catch all. But take my word on this, it looks great and will be perfect when we can set up in its proper home.

That's all for now. Jerry's working on installing the build-ins for our closet so that we can share our new slightly-smaller-than-before closet. I'll post on that next. Good night!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Well, we have come to the part of the renovation that isn't very exciting to read about. Sorry! For those of you who want to see cabinets and countertops, come back in a few weeks because today, the main topic is... Drywall.

The drywall is up in the kitchen. The mold has all been treated and everything smells like a million bucks in there.

Look at all the beautiful drywall. I can just imagine wall to wall cabinets. Mmmm... storage.

I went to the contractor's showroom today and saw all of the cabinets. (Forgot the camera of course!) They are cut and assembled, just need to be stained the right color before they can be installed. That day can't come soon enough, especially for the stacks of stuff in the garage.

Here's a shot of the ceiling after it all dried up. Seems okay for now and after the high-hats are installed, we'll have it painted and it will look good as new, or so we hope. In the meantime, dear old dad is coming over tomorrow to install new sink valves so that we can actually turn the water on the the house without worrying about a flood. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

It might be a few days before the next post because most of the work that's going on now doesn't photgraph well. (Nothing says good blogging like a shot of the inside of an airconditioner!)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Even though the water was turned off in the house, it wasn't turned off quite enough and there was a slow leak from one of the sink faucets in the master bathroom, which out dripped the overflow bucket and slowly leaked into the ceiling all night. Luckily, the cabinets and appliances haven't been installed and the kitchen walls haven't been painted yet. Two contractors took a look and said it should dry up just fine, and a coat of paint on the ceiling would fix it up good as new. So, with a tentative sigh of relief, we went on with the activities of the day. The good news is that the tile work is all done in the master bath and looks fantastic.

Here's the water closet.

And the tub. A granite piece is being ordered for the top of the knee wall.

And the shower.

And the shower floor.

We picked out a color for the pool deck. "New Tile Red", three down and three from the left. The circled item is the texture we will be using. Since it's a pool deck, we don't want it to be too slippery and this paint finish has a sand-like texture to it so no one will slip on the wet pool deck (we hope anyway).

Here's some more blue, this is the Master Bedroom

And the other colors started to go up. Here's the brown, still wet, it should dry lighter.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Sorry I have been remiss in my postings... this thing called my real job has been getting in the way.

Jerry managed to install the entire vanity by himself. Unfortunately, I didn't get to witness him using power tools, but I am quite pleased with the end results.

We have a new light fixture and mirror that we will be installing after this bathroom is painted, so try to direct your eyes downward for now.

Here's a close up. Not bad for a Home Depot in the box special? Nice work Jerry, I see another bathroom vanity makeover in your future... :)Here's a close up of the new sink and faucet. So nice. It's attached and everything.

Meanwhile, Randy has been kicking some serious butt in the master bathroom. I love this tile more and more each day.

He finished the tub surround area (granite is on order for the top of the knee wall and should be in next week)

Here is the shower floor in tumbled marble.... love it!

Here's a distance view. We'll have frameless shower doors put in. I can't wait to see the finished product.

In other random house news, the painters started today. The blue we picked out is a little bluer than we thought it would be, but I still like it. The gray and brown are going up tomorrow and over the weekend.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Today was a battle of the bathrooms. In this corner, wearing cargo shorts, is Jerry. He decided to take on the half bath. In the far corner, wearing a professional tool belt, is Randy, one of our contractor's guys. He'll be continuing work on the master bathroom.

Even if the pictures don't show it, this bath is in pretty poor shape. The vanity is warped from years of use, the formerly bronze fixtures are not even attached to the vanity and are all rusty and crusty and don't even get me started on the towel racks and toilet paper dispenser. (Can you say plastic pretending to be bronze?)

Since this is the only bathroom on the lower level, it will get lots of use and we wanted to pretty it up a bit. We are only replacing the vanity, faucet and light fixtures, so it's relatively inexpensive and will look like a million bucks in the end, theoretically speaking that is. The floor is in pretty decent shape, a previous owner obviously replaced it. They also painted around all the fixtures in the room (after using epoxy and the most rediculously long screws to mount them) so they left horrible marks when they were removed. Here's hoping the painter is as good as he seemed in our interview!

Jerry made a lot of headway in his battle with this half bath today. Please note, the elephant border in the bathroom.

Can't quite see it from there? Here's a closer look. Jealous?

So, Jerry did all he could do until the job required...

POWER TOOLS! That's right folks, that's a saw that my husband plans to use in this project.Here's the rest of the set. I wonder what those things do? Here's hoping Jerry knows. He had to abandon the project because these tools need to be charged up before they could be used. I think I heard him whisper "Until tomorrow, my friends," as we were leaving tonight...

Meanwhile, Randy was extremely productive today. He got all the backer board in for the shower.

And even began laying the tile. I LOVE this tile.

Here's a closeup:

It's amazing how all the icky things in the house look fantastic when I take their pictures and how this photo doesn't do this tile justice. Oh well, take my word for it, the tile is be-YOO-ti-ful!